I have a star named Gremhog in the lovely galaxy. This blog will be dedicated to the stars in my life...the ones known and the ones yet to be discovered.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Genealogy

Last night I attended Max Hale's baptism (a beautiful, crazy, wild 8 year old...and I keep thanking the Lord he sent me 4 girls and not 5 boys altho Jordan was not at all a problem). It was a lovely night. Max's mom had done a lovely job on the food (Hot Dog Heaven dogs with toppings and fries and cupcakes and all over were apothecary jars filled with gum balls and the framed reminder to Chewz the Right.

There were 80 people in attendance, among them Marissa's RS president, Lexi DeBaltzo. Before we had to move from the RS room to the chapel, she told me she was given an assignment for the Genealogy Conference that's held annually in April. She is to present different ways to present your family history, not just the standard search for names and dates. She invited me to attend a prep class on Feb 6 at her home to investigate other mind sets. And then she challenged me to think up something along these lines. By the end of the night I thought of how I need to create a Quiet Book yet for Henry and Oskar and began to think about what kind of pages I could create, using the M2T2's own family story as a basis. Any Quiet Book is a lot of work but this might be so much fun....not sure yet, not promising anything but....

But then in the middle of the night I thought about what I already had, not to necesssarily cancel the Quiet Book...but I decided to post it here. I have previously posted something about Robert's rings and intend to do the same with my rings. But first this, a family history of my young life.

This is the fad we had when I was a teen...a charm bracelet. Even though this probably isn't as expensive as the 'charm' bracelets women insist on having today (Pandora-esque, Alex and Ani). But for my time, these sterling silver charms cost a lot of my hard earned money and often I had to save up for the one I wanted. So here goes a listing of my teen life, in order of the charms, not in order of their happening. From Left to Right.

1962 we visited SLC so you will see the Tabernacle opened (it usually stays closed) showing the grand organ, the choir seats, the General Authority seats, and the congregation seats.

1962 the Salt Lake City temple where my Grandmother Holman was sealed by proxy to Poppy Holman for all eternity.

1972 a wedding ring set to commemorate my marriage to Robert.

67 is the year I graduated from Parma Senior High School.

c1962 Ft. McHenry, Baltimore, MD Our family always took vacations that surrounded historical sites. This was one of our favorites. It was so wonderful to stand on the ramparts and imagine the fight, the bombs and that our US flag was still standing in the morning. I am guessing this was in 1962 because that was also the year my grandmother's brother Bill and wife came from S. Africa for a visit and we took them to many sites.

We're #1 This was from Robert declaring our superiority, altho now he is always saying Primary is #1.

Early 60s, is a spinet piano. I had an old upright originally in 1957 but soon my parents bought me a spinet. When Poppy died, I inherited his grand piano which I still have today but I have promised it to Marissa when I die or become incapable of playing it anymore. This might have been my very first charm ever.

1973 an old fashioned baby carriage, so very British. This is the year my first daughter was born, Dawn, and my mom still had the carriage from my sister (born in 1954) and I would often walk Dawn from our home in Parma to my mom's home in Parma, or for taking Dawn to the grocery store or the laundromat. This charm is exactly like the real carriage we used.

1969 while at BYU, Utah celebrated the Centennial of the driving of the last spike in the Transcontinental Railroad, May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah. Hence the Utah state seal commemorating this event.

Next is a spinner. I don't recall exactly who gave it to me. Probably was Robert after we were married.

One of my earliest ones was the Monkey who did not listen to Evil...one of the 3 famous monkey

1967 this is a charm of a high school class ring. My class ring did not look like this. Mine had so much greater style (thanks to my mom) but this charm we could buy from the ring company and is the standard one most kids bought. It does say Parma Senior High School, has the red stone (school color) and the usual emblems of scholarship and leadership on the sides..you know. The ones you got to pick out for yourself.

1965 when I was Sweet 16

In 1968 I flew to San Francisco to be a bridesmaid to Eddy Onines. It was such a lovely weekend before returning to BYU. I had a date at the Fairmount Hotel with some guy and saw Ella Fitzgerald sing. Steve Onines made sure I visited Haight Ashbury ... the hippie hangout. He allowed me to race out of the car, buy a couple strands of hippie beads and then raced back to the car. No one with any brains wanted to stay too long in that neighborhood.

1966 Y Teen charm. YTeens was a club in high school, sponsored by the YWCA, to meet to establish good relations between girls in the community as well as to have some service projects.

Bridesmaid charm. Cannot recall if Eddy gave her bridesmaids this or if my sister did years later.

1962 another charm from our trip to Utah. This is the beehive, the Utah state symbol for industry. The bottom drops down to show a honey comb and there's a deseret (honeybee) on the side.

1967 a charm from Cedar Point. Everyone plays at Cedar Point following prom in high school...and at any other time. But I got this charm after my senior prom.

Next is a Scotty dog charm. My sweet dog, Bonnie Lassie, was a Scottish Terrier and was such a great companion. I loved her! She was with us from the time we were youngsters until Christmastime 1973 when Bonnie had grown so very old and was so ill. My Uncle Al took her to the vets to be put to sleep while I took Dawn and his son, Richard, to visit Santa at the May Co in Parmatown.

TA 1967-8 My roommate, Gloria Halverson and I were accepted into Thea Alexis, a service organization on BYU campus which did not allow Greek societies on campus.

Terminal Tower, Cleveland, OH. I worked in Cleveland during the summers of college at Arthur G. McKee and Company. But for my whole life as a child, a visit to Cleveland for a movie or dinner required lovely dresses, Sunday shoes, white gloves, often a hat, and most definitely crinolines (petticoats that made the skirts of the dresses stand out).

Greyhound. Still wondering why I have this charm. In order to get home for Christmas in 1972 after we were married I was a bus 'manager' for Greyhound Bus Lines. I took reservations to fill the bus between Provo and Cleveland stops and in exchange my ticket was free. I am fairly certain that's why I have this charm but now I own another dog, the love of my life...an Italian Greyhound, Niko. He's much larger than the normal IGs but he's perfect for me.

mid 1960s. After the Beatles hit the world stage everyone needed a guitar. Including me. I ended up having one that could be plugged into an amplifier and was very cool. But when I got to college I traded it in for an acoustic guitar.

1967 Park Bench, given to me by my high school boyfriend with the words Hold Me Tight on the backrest.

1972 a Mortar Board to commemorate my graduation from BYU with a degree in history. Exactly one day before I got married. Bad choice of timing!

1962 the Capitol Building in Washington DC

Praying hands, the famous ones. Given to me by my Grandmother Holman who always reminded me to pray, who herself was very much in communication with Heavenly Father through prayer.

1970 Happy Birthday 21.

1972 Diploma for graduation

1966 Megaphone. I was not a cheerleader but I was selected to be a member of the Girls Booster Club at PSH. We cheered on all the teams...loudly. We had the coolest wool sweaters with great emblems on it. I was so happy to be a part of this group of girls then.

So that's my charm bracelet. I think I need to wear it more often, as Dawn just commented. It's a very cool history of my life and the important things at that time. And as I wrote about each of them I realized they are still important to me.

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About Me

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common - this is my symphony. (William Ellery Channing quote)